A variety of technical solutions for the distancing and fastening of relays with generally rectangular housings are already known. A relay usually has a series of connections, known as dip solder pins, pointing in one direction, by means of which the components are soldered and interconnected to a circuit board. There are also solutions where the relay is plugged in simply by means of suitable and appropriately dimensioned plug connectors. It is also known that the dip solder pins are designed cranked so that contact surfaces or contact points rest on the circuit board to allow a first positioning of the relay on a circuit board before the actual fixing by means of a dip soldering process. However, the cranked dip solder pins are generally not sufficiently stable to absorb and dissipate the forces occurring during the subsequent screwing of additional conductor connections in the circuit boards or connector boards without deformation of the pins or damage to the solder joints.
A technical solution by means of the above support elements is described in DE 295 21 179 U1, in which additional retaining arms oriented in the direction of the circuit board or suitable retaining pins protruding downwards are arranged and mounted directly on the relay housing. The retaining pins are provided with latching or clamping elements to position the relay on the circuit board before the actual soldering and also serve as a support when plugging in or fastening the electrical pathways.
Various retaining lugs and interlocking retaining clips are described in EP 0 223 622 A1, which should allow a direct stringing together or snapping together, i.e., without a distancing of the relays from each other.
Another technical solution for the fastening and positioning of a relay with rectangular housing is shown in DE 88 08 153 U1, in which a sufficient force-fitting fixing of a relay to a circuit board can be ensured before and during the contact of the relay with the circuit board, where a gap corresponding to the dimension of a fixing pin in the direction of the circuit board is arranged centrally in the circuit board.
A similar configuration of a relay with a rectangular housing is furthermore described in DE AS 2 131 478 A2. A largely dimensioned guide rod is arranged in the center of a relay in the direction of the circuit board. Further additional rods are arranged so that they work as a kind of bayonet lock and force-fittingly fasten and position the relay to a base plate.
Another technical solution to solve the problem of fastening and positioning is described in DE 89 13 276 U1. In this case, retaining brackets are configured on the rectangular housing of a relay in the direction of a base plate, on which latching teeth are arranged which engage on the back of the base plate and effect the fastening.
A technical solution is disclosed in DE 79 00 929.3 U1 in which the housings of switchgear are connected using snap-on fastening or other clamping means with an accessory device. The connection is hereby made by rivet-like latching elements that penetrate bores provided with shallow depressions and latch onto the shallow depressions with expanding heads. Here a direct interlocking of individual mutually adjacent switchgear also takes place.
Another technical solution for the connection of mutually adjacent power circuit breakers is shown in DE 199 61 242 A1. Here a connecting element with a cylindrically-shaped body is also described, wherein on both sides of the body are formed two expanding legs, springing back radially and projecting axially in opposite directions, whose outer diameter is smaller than the outer diameter of the body, and whose exposed ends on opposite jacketing lines exhibit radially projecting lugs which latch on in a suspended state behind so-called back springs into the interior of the housings to be connected and therefore ensure the connection. The disadvantage here is that in both of the housings to be connected special back springs must be designed and arranged, which results in a more expensive housing configuration. This means that the production of the housing as a whole can become more expensive.
The following generally applies to all texts encountered, that they are in each case only suitable for switchgear housings to be arranged directly adjacent or overlapping. A distancing and positioning both of housings and homogeneously designed connecting elements to electrical boards or circuit boards are hereby not possible.